2017: A look back at a crazy year in B.C. politics

B.C. Premier John Horgan speaks during an announcement at the site where a new mental health and addictions centre will be built, in Coquitlam, B.C., on Friday November 17, 2017. DARRYL DYCK / THE CANADIAN PRESS

VICTORIA — In the long, extraordinary, and at-times wacky history of B.C. politics, there has never been a year quite like 2017.

The closest election in provincial history, followed by the first minority government since 1952, and then the first time in 114 years that an opposition party defeated a government on a confidence vote in the legislature and assumed power without having to go to a new election.

It was a year that saw the office of the lieutenant-governor flex its little-used powers, reminding the public that the Queen’s representative in B.C. is more than a figurehead.

And a year that saw B.C.’s cast of political characters shift dramatically: Liberal premier Christy Clark, who had dominated the political scene since her return in 2011, exited the stage in abrupt defeat. Green leader Andrew Weaver became kingmaker, with his party’s three seats holding the balance of power. And the NDP’s John Horgan rose to the challenge of becoming B.C.’s 36th premier, leading New Democrats to office after 16 years on the sidelines.

“I don’t think in my wildest dreams I would have thought what transpired could have and would have transpired,” said Weaver. “It has been remarkable.”

“In many ways, it was the longest year in B.C.’s political history — certainly its recent political history in terms of the twists and turns that occurred,” added Mike de Jong, the former Liberal finance minister, who is entering his 24th year as an MLA.

For many, it’s still difficult to process the B.C. Liberal fall from grace. The party went into the election with a provincial economy that was the strongest in Canada, and a campaign war chest overflowing with cash. But the Liberals faced a voter backlash in Metro Vancouver over their slow action on housing affordability, bridge tolls, child care and political donation reform.

Premier Clark started the year dumping cash into problem areas her party could sense voters were upset about — the K-12 public education system, teachers, child welfare, child care and housing solutions. Few people noticed, as most of the headlines in February and March centered around her false claims the NDP hacked the B.C. Liberal website, as well as a rising wave of voter anger over her party’s refusal to ban corporate and union donations to political parties.

By the time the election campaign began in April, the NDP had crafted an effective character assassination campaign against Clark, blitzing the airwaves with accusations she’d ignored skyrocketing affordability issues because of donations from developers, big business and special interest groups. New Democrat promises to scrap Metro Vancouver bridge tolls, fix housing prices and create a $10-a-day child care program led to a wave of support in Metro Vancouver.

The popular vote in the May 9 election was a virtual tie between the two parties — 40.36 per cent of 1.97 million voters supported the Liberals, compared to 40.28 for the NDP. The Greens picked up 16.84 per cent.

The Liberals watched the 49 seats they’d won under Clark in 2013 shrink to 43, while the NDP added six, to 41. The Greens picked up two new seats, and the party’s three-person caucus now held the balance of power in the legislature.

A recount in the riding of Courtenay-Comox was the last Liberals hope to secure a bare majority. But a surprisingly strong candidate from the near-dead B.C. Conservative party split the vote. The NDP held the riding by just 189 votes, and the weakened Liberals were left with a fragile minority grip on power.

Weaver declared he would hold talks with both parties, to decide which to support. On his own, he might have tilted toward Clark, with whom he had a good relationship. But the Green base made clear it wouldn’t stand for propping up the Liberal regime. Weaver had to bury the hatchet with Horgan and the NDP, after years of clashes. On May 30, Weaver announced a confidence and supply agreement with the NDP to topple the minority Liberals and make Horgan premier.

“I’m absolutely delighted with the way things have evolved,” Weaver said in a year-end interview with Postmedia. “We have a good faith and no surprise agreement. But there certainly was a very big surprise and that surprise is I get along really well with John. I quite like him.”

Green Party Leader Andrew Weaver speaks to media as Premier John Horgan and looks on following the legislation announcement banning union and corporate donations to political parties during a press conference at Legislature in Victoria, B.C., on Monday, September 18, 2017.CHAD HIPOLITO /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

One seat shy of control of the legislature, Clark faced a choice: Quit, or recall the house for a showdown. Always the fighter, Clark chose the latter.

The legislature reconvened in June, yet despite a flurry of last-minute procedural wrangling, the NDP-Green coalition brought the Liberal government down on a confidence vote June 29.

All eyes turned to Lieut.-Gov. Judith Guichon, a cattle rancher from the Nicola Valley. Constitutional experts generally agreed Guichon should give Horgan a chance to govern, rather than send voters back to the polls. But it meant the rare act of rejecting a sitting premier’s call for a new election, effectively firing Clark, while handing over power to the opposition. Such a scenario had not played out since before 1903, when political parties first formed in the province.

June 29 proved an evening of high drama at Government House, with television news helicopters hovering overhead and a crowd outside the mansion’s front door waiting to hear the decision. Clark came and went, taking an hour inside. Horgan then arrived, emerging a short time later to announce Guichon had asked him to form government.

Former British Columbia Premier Christy Clark emerges from Government House after meeting with Lt-Gov. Judith Guichon after her Liberal minority government was defeated on a confidence vote in Victoria, B.C., on Thursday, June 29, 2017.DARRYL DYCK /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Premier John Horgan and Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon meet on the steps of Legislature before the speech from the throne in the legislative assembly in Victoria, B.C., on Friday, September 8, 2017.CHAD HIPOLITO /
THE CANADIAN PRESS

Scholars will likely study Guichon’s decision for years to come, including how it could affect the unwritten rules of convention for future lieutenant-governors. But in the short-term, at least, there are few who seem to dispute her call.

“The lieutenant-governor handled herself extremely well,” said Hamish Telford, a political-science professor at the University of the Fraser Valley. “It was a great opportunity to show people the LG is not just a symbolic figure that shows up at events and waves for the Queen. She’s a significant figure for our political system.”

Veteran NDP MLA Mike Farnworth, who was first elected in 1991, said Guichon has left a lasting mark on provincial history.

“Most LG’s go through their career without any controversy,” said Farnworth, who is now Solicitor General. “Judith Guichon will go down in the history books and her decisions will be studied. She will not be just a footnote LG. What she showed is the importance of that position and what it does and how it sustains and upholds our system.”

An upside of the electoral drama was weeks of public discussion about B.C.’s parliamentary system, including unusually detailed debates about the role of Speaker and minority governments.

“I think it was a tremendous opportunity to really learn about our parliamentary system of government,” said Telford. “And it really worked. It was a little bit messy and uncertain, but democracy is messy.”

Premier Horgan’s NDP government was sworn in July 18. Clark, meanwhile, quit as Liberal leader July 28, after facing behind-the-scenes pushback from a handful of MLAs at a caucus retreat in Penticton. The most vocal dissident was Darryl Plecas, the MLA for Abbotsford South, who threatened to quit if Clark stayed. Clark left, but Plecas effectively quit anyway, accepting an NDP offer to become Speaker of the Legislature in September in a move his Liberal colleagues considered a betrayal. He was booted from the party.

The hostility between Plecas and the Liberals fuelled a particularly disorderly and cantankerous fall session of the legislature. The Liberal half of the house treated the Speaker with outright contempt, which Plecas returned in the form of cracking down on heckling and decorum in the house.

Interim Liberal leader Rich Coleman said he sees no reason to make peace with Plecas, and no reason to even speak to him again until the Liberals try to unseat him in the next election. In the meantime, he said he’s proud of the job the Liberals have done regrouping from defeat into an official Opposition he thinks is better than the one in the 1990s under then leader Gordon Campbell.

The NDP government, meanwhile, has moved quickly on reforms. It raised the minimum wage, boosted disability and welfare payments, cancelled the George Massey bridge project, reviewed the Site C dam (choosing to proceed with construction), created a commission to review how to reach a $15 minimum wage, banned corporate and union donations to political parties, moved the four-year fixed election date from spring to fall and closed loopholes on fixed-term rental rate increases, among other changes.

“What we have done since the election has shown a minority parliament can work,” said Farnworth.

The big-ticket items that propelled the NDP to power, however, have yet to be fulfilled. Horgan has said his February budget will be centered around addressing the crises in housing affordability and child care. But it remains unknown how he’ll fund those promises. The NDP has already raised taxes on corporations and high-income earners, but are still facing a small projected surplus of $190 million this year, without even starting the expensive $10-a-day child care program.

Ultimately, whether 2017 will be known as the year everything changed in B.C. politics, or just another fascinating swap of power between traditional political parties, will likely depend on the outcome of the referendum on proportional representation. The vote is set for late 2018, but the NDP passed legislation in November to set the rules, paving the way for a fundamental change in how politics is done in the province.

Telford said he’s “deeply distressed” the NDP and Greens are rushing the referendum, putting in low-bar rules to help it pass, such as a 50 per cent plus one majority and no minimum turnout.

“If you are going to make a change of this magnitude there has to be broad consensus across the spectrum that this is the right thing to do,” he said. “This could get very divisive and very messy.”

The now opposition Liberals are using the proportional representation vote as a rallying cry to reorganize. But they are also in the middle of a leadership race, with a vote set for Feb 3.

Meanwhile, the Greens, who played an oversized role in power-sharing with only three MLAs, are run ragged, said Weaver. “Honestly, I’m the living embodiment of exhaustion,” he said.

It’s tough for MLAs to truly appreciate the historic nature of 2017, given how tired they are from a jam-packed 12 months, said Weaver.

“We are living in the trees, we can’t stand back and see the forest,” he said.

Still, it’s likely the year will hold a special place in the history books of British Columbia.

“At the end of the year we’ve reached a new equilibrium,” said Telford. “But we perhaps shouldn’t get too complacent here. Because the government is precarious. It’s a slender working majority and it could fall apart if there’s a falling out with the Greens.

“It’s going to be interesting to keep watching B.C. politics for the next couple of years.”

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